Orion
by Black Oracle
Summary: TFP. Post-"Orion Pax". After his return from the Decepticons, Optimus Prime reflects on his past and remembers the bot that he used to be. Part 2 is up. Optimus and Arcee have a little heart-to-heart chat underneath the stars.
1. Chapter 1

Taking a break from my TFA fiction, I return now to Prime.

After the "Orion Pax" season 2 opening episodes, I remeber thinking how it was kind of a shame that Optimus did not remain in his Orion Pax state for longer. It would have created a nice opportunity for some character development and shaken things up a little within the Autobot team. The fact that he retained no memory of his time as Orion Pax as well just made everything that happened in those episodes rather redundant.

This fic is set right after the "Orion Pax" episodes. There'll be a part 2 as well next week. Enjoy, folks!

**Orion - Part 1**

"So you really can't remember anything?"

Optimus Prime turned his attention to the question-asker: Bulkhead.

"I am afraid not, Bulkhead. My memory of the time elapsed between my unleashing of the power of the Matrix inside of Unicron and my reawakening at the Decepticon space bridge control centre is...erased."

"Perhaps it is just as well," Ratchet commented without looking up from his work. "I do not imagine memories of being held on the Decepticon warship would be pleasant for any Autobot."

Standing in the medical bay of their base, Bulkhead, Bumblebee and Arcee watched as Ratchet burned away the last remaining traces of the Decepticon emblem and carved a new Autobot emblem on Optimus' shoulder using a heat cutting tool. Optimus was sat on a medical table, bending forward slightly so that the medic could reach his upper shoulder.

Bumblebee beeped questioningly at Optimus.

"I do not believe it had been Megatron's intention to harm me, Bumblebee, at least not initially. Even in a regressive state, I may still have been of use to him." Optimus' gaze dropped. "I only hope that I did not provide him with anything of great value before I left."

"Optimus, you need not blame yourself for anything that may have happened whilst you were not in your rightful state of mind and under Megatron's manipulative control," Ratchet stated firmly.

Arcee took a step forward toward Optimus.

"He's right, Optimus," she agreed. "Anything you did under Megatron's influence wasn't your fault." She came to stand beside Optimus and placed both her smaller hands over his larger one. "We'll deal with the consequences, if any, of your time in Decepticon captivity eventually. But for now at least, we're just glad to have you back with us, both in body and mind."

There were nods of agreement from Bulkhead and Bumblebee to Arcee's last sentence. Optimus looked across all his troops.

"I am in debt to all of you for bringing me back," he said humbly. His gaze came to rest on Arcee. "In particular, you and Jack, Arcee, for braving a journey back to Cybertron in search of Vector Sigma. I would not be here in my present state if not for your efforts."

Arcee smiled up at Optimus. "It was worth it to get you back."

"Yeah, just imagine what would have happened if we'd got Optimus back from the 'Cons without any way to reload the Matrix of Leadership?" Bulkhead laughed.

Optimus looked distantly into the far wall as Bulkhead said this.

"Then it would not have been Optimus Prime whom you had returned with...," he murmured.

Bulkhead, Bumblebee and Arcee looked at their leader curiously.

"Done," Ratchet declared suddenly, drawing everyone's attention. He shut off his heat cutting tool and stepped back from Optimus to inspect his handiwork. A satisfied look appeared on his face. "Good as new."

From beside Optimus, Ratchet picked up a large mirror that had been lying face down. He held it up by Optimus' shoulder to allow him a clear view of the newly carved Autobot emblem there. Bringing a hand up toward the new emblem, Optimus touched it lightly with his fingertips.

"Welcome back to the Autobots, Optimus," Ratchet said.

Optimus smiled a small smile. "Thank you, Ratchet."

Ratchet put the mirror back down beside Optimus. "Now you may not remember it, but you have been through quite an ordeal, so I think it would be best for you now to get some rest."

Ratchet turned to Bulkhead, Bumblebee and Arcee. He began ushering them toward the exit. "Optimus could use some peace and quiet now."

The trio nodded and began heading out. Ratchet followed after them, casting a final glance back at Optimus before departing.

Left alone, Optimus looked down at his hands resting on top of his legs. For some reason, he thought they appeared large then, too large for him. His gaze then wandered over to the mirror lying beside him. He reached over and picked it up. Bringing it before himself, he looked down into his reflection. He imagined that he had never seen him before: the Prime in the mirror. Optimus Prime existed only in the glass. It was a window into an alternate reality where such a leader of the Autobots existed, in a world divorced from this one. The image did not belong to him. He was not Optimus Prime. He was just the young archivist tucked away safely at his work station in the Iacon Hall of Records, locating, reading, storing and organising historical files. He had no other worldly concerns about war and responsibilities. He was just an ordinary worker doing ordinary work, performing a designated job, leading a simple, unremarkable life on Cybertron.

From his lips, the archivist softly emerged.

"My name is Orion Pax."

His gaze was drawn down the mirror to the glass panels of the Prime's chest. They began to open. A bluish-white radiance seeped out, then poured.

He heard his old mentor, Alpha Trion's voice again:

_"Sometimes destiny is not of our own choosing. Sometimes it chooses us."_

He beheld the power and magnificence of the Matrix of Leadership as its energy emanated from within the body of the Prime, a body that was not his, a burden that was not his to bear, a role that he had never been chosen for. The Matrix of Leadership had never come to him. He was not carrying it in his body. It was not there inside of him. He had never been chosen to be its bearer. He was just like any other Cybertronian, carrying only a single spark within him. Optimus Prime did not exist. He had never been created.

Optimus Prime disappeared into Orion Pax.

"I am far from being a Prime."

**End.**


	2. Chapter 2

Thank you, CyberKia and Wolf Prime for the reviews, and to everyone who has shown interest in this fic.

What would it have been like had the Autobots met Orion Pax? This was the question that prompted me to write this. And coincidentally, as I was writing this fic, I believe I spotted the constellation Orion whilst looking up one night.

**Orion - Part 2**

Optimus Prime watched a star-filled night sky. He sat on the roof of the Autobot base, leaning back onto one arm, his other resting on top of an upright knee. The night was quiet, save for the sounds of gentle breezes blowing over the Nevada desert beneath him. Optimus Prime was alone with his thoughts. Then his solitude was broken by soft footsteps from behind.

"Star-gazing?"

The Autobot leader turned to the source of the voice from behind and saw Arcee walking toward him.

"Mind if I join you?" she asked.

Optimus nodded to the empty space beside him. Arcee sat down, mirroring Optimus' sitting position but turning her body to face his. Optimus' gaze rose to the night sky again.

"What are you looking at?" Arcee asked, focusing on the direction that her leader was looking in.

"Orion." He pointed to a cluster of stars in a rough hourglass shape. "A constellation known to the humans as 'Orion'."

Arcee glanced at Optimus then brought her gaze back up to the stars.

"So the name exists in this world too," she remarked.

"In their ancient Greek mythology, Orion was a hunter," Optimus informed.

The two Autobots studied Orion for a while.

"Kinda strange that you should be looking at him now," Arcee remarked, "after everything that's just happened."

Optimus' gaze lowered slightly.

"Perhaps it is not coincidence."

There was a pause.

"I wouldn't have minded meeting him," Arcee said wistfully. "Kind of a shame we didn't get the chance."

Optimus looked down at Arcee and regarded her with curiosity.

"Orion Pax." Arcee looked up at Optimus with a faint smile. "Ratchet compared him to Jack, y'know. Sounds like someone I could have got to like."

They looked at one another for some moments before Optimus returned his gaze upwards.

"He was a data clerk that spent most of his time sorting historical files within the Iacon Hall of Records," he said plainly. "I doubt you would have found him of great interest. He was nothing special."

Arcee returned her gaze skyward as well.

"I didn't think much of Jack either when I first met him," she said casually. "But I see something in him now. And you've seen it in him too."

Optimus cast a glance at Arcee.

"Why else entrust him with the key to Vector Sigma?" she continued. "He's young and inexperienced, but he has potential, to become something more, something great in time..." She looked at Optimus again. "Like you."

Optimus brought his gaze upwards again.

"The potential to grow and learn is within us all," he said as he studied the stars. "But in some of us, there is potential for greatness, there is potential to be chosen by destiny. We do not choose to be chosen, but we must answer the call when it comes." He looked down at Arcee. "We all must become more than what we were in time."

Arcee's eyes moved down to the moonlit horizon of the Nevada desert.

"Jack told me when he approached you with the reloaded key to Vector Sigma, you were unsure about receiving it," she said thoughtfully. "It must have been quite a shock for Orion Pax, being given the Matrix of Leadership."

Optimus looked away solemnly.

"He was unworthy," he uttered almost inaudibly.

Arcee looked at Optimus with a little surprise.

"You believe that?" she probed gently.

Optimus said nothing more. The pair fell into a calm silence.

"Y'know, from the beginning, I think we've all been underestimating Orion Pax," Arcee said calmly, breaking the silence. "When you were gone, we were all afraid for you, of what had happened to you, of what might happen to you. I...we were afraid that we may have lost you, the Optimus we knew, forever." Arcee brought both her legs up and hugged them. "The scariest thing was knowing that you couldn't remember us," she recalled aloud.

Optimus' head bowed subtly. Arcee paused then continued:

"Megatron taking you away from us made things worse. We were scared, angry, in disarray, desperate. We'd lost you both mentally and physically. We didn't know what Megatron would do to you, if he would harm you or turn you against us. We were afraid of what would become of you and of us without you."

She looked back to Optimus and smiled. He returned her gaze.

"But against the odds, even with your mind gone and Megatron no doubt keeping you in the dark, you still found your way back to us in the end. Orion Pax broke away from Megatron, someone he had trusted, and chose to come to us instead, bots that he knew nothing about. He followed his spark. As Ratchet said, your spark never stopped being that of an Autobot."

Arcee looked up into the bright blue light of Optimus' eyes.

"You say Orion Pax was nothing special. But I think maybe there was more to him than meets the eye. I think he may have had a penchant for seeking the truth and pursuing it. I think he knew how to distinguish between right and wrong, and when confronted with the two, he would always do what was right, even when it put him in danger. Orion Pax might not have known how to be a leader or how to hold a gun, but he had potential for greatness, and given time, even without the Matrix, he would have surprised us all."

**End.**


End file.
